After last week the markets were in a frenzy about the possible deal between the Canadian Couche-Tard and the French Carrefour, this week, things took an unexpected turn.
On Thursday, the Canada-based company revealed that it was in preliminary talks to buy Carrefour for $19.7 billion. At that time, the deal was frowned upon by the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who stated that "is at stake is the food sovereignty of the French people. So from this point of view, the idea that Carrefour could be bought by a foreign competitor, on the face of it, I am not in favor of this operation."
According to The Canadian Press, Alain Bouchard, the founder of Alimentation Couche-Tard, met in Paris with Le Maire. Still, he was not able to change the minister's opinion over the food security issue.
Following the news, Carrefour stock price dropped more than 7%.
Read here about the preliminary talks between the two companies!
Sources: marketwatch.com, ft.com